Illegal King

by Mason Dakota

  They took it much the same way I had at first.

  “You’re joking,” said Alison, “Tell me Griffon. You can’t possibly believe any of this, can you?”

  I just stared at her. For the first time, I truly admitted it to myself that I believed Gabriel. “Yes. Yes, I do,” I whispered.

  Chamberlain picked up on what was missing and asked me, “How long have you known about this?” There was no “if” I knew about Gabriel’s secret to Chamberlain, only a matter of “how long” I knew. He saw right through me.

  Gulp.

  “Ziavir told me the last time I saw him six months ago. A week later Gabriel left me a letter just before he disappeared saying the same thing. I never believed any of it until now.”

  “You kept this from us?” asked Thomas, turning his rage toward me now. Likely his earlier promise was the only thing that stopped him from assaulting me.

  “Yes. I didn’t think it was your burden to carry at the time,” I said.

  “Why would you not tell us what you knew?” asked Michael. It was the first thing he had said since Gabriel walked through the door, and he aimed the question at me and not at the man he still hid from. He didn’t sound angry, more worried than anything else. He sought something from me, asking one question in hopes of an answer to a deeper question. I didn’t know the real question, and I didn’t know the answer he sought and it confused me.

  “Because I didn’t want any of you to feel like I do! I thought it would be better if all of you assumed Gabriel died because enduring that grief would be easier than facing betrayal.”

  Chamberlain whispered, “You shouldn’t have kept this from us.”

  He sounded hurt more than angry about my secret. In my own way, I had betrayed him. I expected wrath, but instead I got the unsurmountable pain and it tore my soul apart more than any fist could. I wanted that old righteous anger I saw in him before. Only once had I really seen him angry and it had about cost my life, after a public execution of an Illegal that I led. I still have nightmares of my actions and Chamberlain’s wrath, but knowing that keeping this secret had actually hurt my friends, something which I had hoped to prevent, was agonizing.

  Just when I think I’m numb to pain, I experience a more agonizing kind.

  “You’ve all sacrificed so much for me already. I couldn’t ask anymore of you,” I whispered. Chamberlain rolled his wheelchair toward me and waved for me to lean down to his eye level.

  I complied as he said, “You said we were a family.” Then he slapped me right across the jaw. The deafening pop and force of his hand drove me to my knees. “So act like we are!”

  Even in a wheelchair, Chamberlain makes me feel small.

  Alison giggled, attempting to hide her smile behind her hand. Michael bit his lip to keep from joining in and Thomas and Gabriel grinned.

  “All right…I guess I deserved that one,” I said as I massaged my jaw.

  Smiling like a school boy, Chamberlain wheeled his chair away victory lap fashion. Then, like the flip of a light switch, a business look returned to his face. He turned to Gabriel and asked, “So you’re here only because you’re after Griffon’s father? That’s been your goal from the first day you walked into our lives?”

  Gabriel nodded.

  “Is he really as dangerous as you say he is?” Alison asked.

  “Sweetheart…I’ve known Richard for a very long time. There are only a few in this world as dangerous as he is, and they are locked up in the Grimway. People are but tools to men like Richard. He will cut down his closest followers in order to achieve his objectives. Everywhere he goes, he and his followers leave a trail of bodies. I’ve followed him across every continent and every major disaster for twenty years. He’s a mastermind. Every trail I followed went cold. And when I do know where he is, He’s heavily protected.”

  Something clicked in my head and I asked, “Does my father know I’m alive?”

  Gabriel, taking a deep breath, said, “Yes.”

  My father knows I’m alive!

  With a trembling voice, I asked, “Did the trail on my father run cold at the time you entered back into my life?”

  Once more Gabriel stood silent. Everything I knew was crumbling around me.

  “So you intended to use Griffon as bait all this time for his father?” Chamberlain quickly asked.

  Gabriel shook his head and said, “Not bait. But I thought Richard would eventually come for his son. We secretly protected Griffon for years, and therefore, by extension, the rest of you—especially you, Chamberlain. I am why your identity remains a secret.”

  Something dark and mysterious flashed between Chamberlain and Gabriel.

  Gabriel is the reason nobody knows Chamberlain is an Illegal?

  “And if Griffon’s father did show up to take him with him? What would you have done?” asked Alison.

  Gabriel sighed. “It was never my intention to involve any of you in this. I have spent years trying to protect all of you from Richard and Nebula. This never would have happened if Griffon hadn’t decided to hop onto that train months ago. Then, after years of keeping both Chamberlain and Griffon hidden from the rest of the world, it is all put at risk when Griffon gets named Chicago’s Outcast Emissary. Richard cannot ignore him now.”

  “I believe the correct term is bait,” spat Thomas.

  Gabriel dismissed the comment and continued, “But we still had to create the perfect setting to draw Richard in.”

  “That’s why you did what you did to Chicago,” Alison said.

  “So Chicago becomes your fishing hole?” Thomas accused.

  “And Griffon the prized fish?” Michael asked.

  Gabriel nodded.

  “That’s why you wanted me to take the job,” I said. “To draw him out into a trap.”

  “I hoped your name being broadcasted would lure your father before we ever had to do what we did to Chicago.”

  “What happened twenty years ago in that fire? I thought my father died with my mother. Why didn’t he come back for me?”

  “Because, without you even knowing it, you were under my security. That day, that fire, when your mother died, Richard had nothing. He knew he couldn’t stand against our organization as we protected you, so instead he spent two decades building a criminal empire that rivals our own, one so prominent that even the Empire has been trying to squash it.”

  “What sort of organization is that?” asked Thomas.

  “The Outcast Legion,” whispered Michael, piecing things together.

  “Griffon’s father is one of the warlords of the Northern Territories. He controls an army of radical Outcasts who operate across many nations to reach one goal: to murder Nobles.”

  “Impossible,” Thomas whispered. We all thought the same thing. I still didn’t believe it.

  “It’s true,” Gabriel said.

  “If that’s true, why are you here?” asked Alison.

  “Because I believe Richard is somewhere in Chicago. I believe he plans to annihilate the city’s Nobles. I believe he will either try to get Griffon to join him or use Griffon to further that goal. When he does, I’ll be there to catch him,” said Gabriel.

  My father is coming for me?

  Twenty-Five

  I didn’t know whether to be excited or afraid. I hadn’t seen my father in twenty years. But if he was the sort of man Gabriel described, would I want to? Would I really want to stare into the eyes of a man that could terrify Gabriel and Ziavir?

  The same eyes that I saw every time I looked into a mirror.

  “Does the rest of Nebula know you’re here?” Michael asked. Gabriel stared at Michael. They had their own conversation beneath ours. Something was wrong.

  “No. They think I’m dead. I hoped if Richard thought me gone it would put him off guard.”

  “Which is why you have disguised yourself,” said Chamberlain. Gabriel nodded and scratched at the fake tattoo on his neck.

  “The virus is evidence that Richard is here?” asked
Alison. Gabriel nodded. By the looks on Michael’s and Chamberlain’s faces, Thomas and Alison had already updated them on the day’s events at the hospital. Good. It meant I wouldn’t have to tell them and relive that horrifying experience.

  “You think Griffon’s father is tied to the virus?” asked Chamberlain.

  “This was no accident. Only a few people are capable of acquiring or manufacturing such a deadly weapon, and even fewer are willing to unleash one.”

  “Aren’t you capable of something like this?” Thomas coldly asked. Gabriel’s look was colder.

  “This isn’t my doing.”

  “No, you’re just the disease that brought about the symptoms,” said Thomas.

  Gabriel sighed. “Yes, yes, that’s very true. But arguing over the past does nothing.”

  “So what do you suggest we do?” asked Michael.

  Oh, how easily we fall back into our old roles.

  Gabriel looked around the room at each of us. I could tell what he was about to suggest. “Richard would have people watching the hospital. He knows people are investigating into this and that Griffon is involved. It won’t be long before Richard makes contact.”

  And there’s the truth. I really am bait for my father.

  My friends erupted in protest. None of them liked the idea of me being put up as bait while they sat back and just waited for it to happen. To Gabriel’s credit, he stood unaffected by their shouting protests, and I swelled with pride for my friends. I tried to speak over their shouting. Nobody heard me. It took me screaming for their silence to get them to shut up.

  “It’s clear nobody likes this plan—”

  “Of course not! You’re a fish in a barrel!” interrupted Chamberlain.

  “You got a better idea?” I asked.

  Chamberlain looked back and forth between Gabriel and me before saying, “There must be a better way. What can you tell us about Richard’s operation—his followers and way of doing things?”

  “He will start small by infecting just a few isolated Nobles to test the virus and its contagious strength. He’s already done that. After that, he will likely choose one specific individual to be his carrier, someone the authorities would have trouble tracking and containing, very mobile around the city, and who can easily infect a wide range of Nobles he comes into contact with.”

  “What happens to the carrier?” Alison asked.

  “They’ll unknowingly spread the virus before it kills them.”

  “What about Richard’s followers?” Thomas asked.

  “He always travels with his most loyal assassin, Tempest Raven.”

  “I take it not someone we want to meet,” I said.

  Gabriel’s expression turned dark. “Raven’s trained to infiltrate and topple governments—sometimes in a matter of days. So no, you don’t want to meet him.”

  “You know him, don’t you?” asked Chamberlain.

  Gabriel swallowed and said, “Yes I do. I trained him. He’s a former agent of Nebula.”

  Gabriel trained him, just like he trained me?

  Silence blanketed the room until I asked, “You mean to say my father’s right hand man…is an agent of Nebula?”

  “A rogue agent. Richard turned him. Raven was one of our best. He killed three of my agents and is Richard’s greatest tool of hiding from us.”

  “Because he knows all your tricks,” Alison said.

  “So the threat against Chicago…comes by a man you trained…who turned on you to follow Griffon’s father? You’re even more to blame for this than I thought,” whispered Thomas. Gabriel didn’t say anything. He brooded beneath his face.

  “But,” I said as I wagged my finger as an idea came together in my head, “There’s our answer to catching them. We draw my father out by drawing Raven out. You trained him—you know how he thinks and what he will do for my father to protect him. So we do the opposite and force Raven’s hand. Then we get him to lead us back to my father.”

  I felt wrong saying that. Not in the plan aspect, but in the fact that I talked about hunting down a man I hadn’t seen in twenty years—my own father! Someone I had long assumed dead. I spoke as if I were a hunter stalking some gazelle in the wild.

  Am I that heartless?

  Plus, I didn’t even know if any of this was real or another set of lies from Gabriel.

  “So how do we go about doing this?” Michael asked.

  “We do it on two fronts. As myself, I keep looking into the virus to draw attention to myself. But as Shaman, I’ve agreed to work with Lorre and the Justicars to uncover this mystery. We break enough things, shake enough of the underworld to tell us what they know and Raven’s bound to come out if he thinks I’m a security risk. Especially if I start dropping his name around.”

  “They will come after you,” said Thomas.

  “Precisely.”

  Chamberlain coughed to get my attention. “That still leaves you as the bait. Twice in the same scenario.”

  “Unfortunately that’s all we have going for us. Whether my father is really involved or not, someone is trying to murder a lot of people. I’ve got to stop it.”

  “You intend to go back out there as Shaman? While Evelyn hunts Shaman? You will be leading her into danger,” said Alison.

  “Not to mention the Sabols want both versions of you dead. Yes, I am aware of your bounty,” said Gabriel.

  Best not to mention the incident at the diner.

  Thomas quickly added, “The mob also wants Shaman dead.”

  Is there really that many people trying to kill me?

  “Going out there is the quickest way to get yourself or Evelyn killed,” said Alison. She was right. A lot of people wanted me dead, and that put Evelyn at risk as well.

  I scoffed and waved away her comment. “Relax, my father wouldn’t try to kill his son.”

  I hoped at least.

  Gabriel’s look made me think otherwise.

  “And our roles?” Thomas asked through gritted teeth. He wanted to get involved. I knew how he felt. Today had pulled at both of us in a lot of ways. Putting on the mask and beating up some criminals actually sounded therapeutic to my twisted psyche. It probably did for Thomas as well.

  “Tonight I will put on the mask and hit the streets alone. The rest of you will get some rest for tomorrow,” I said.

  “You’re not going out there alone!” shouted Chamberlain. He looked foolish saying the words. I smirked thinking what it might be like going out with him again like the old days. I missed those nights. Except now he’s in a wheelchair and I’m to blame. But the fire in his eyes made me almost believe that shouldn’t matter—or at least it didn’t for him.

  “Chamberlain…you are getting married tomorrow! I’m not even sure if you should be here tonight in the same room as Alison. I know it’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding, but with the amount of bad luck the two of you have you might want to even consider extending that time apart,” I said.

  “Griffon, you’re in the wedding too! Why not consider taking the night off yourself? It would certainly make Evelyn happy to know you aren’t in danger,” said Alison.

  I knew her reasoning aimed toward Evelyn’s benefit as much as to my own. Alison and Evelyn remained close friends, staying in contact, after our break-up, and Alison thought I didn’t know. Alison still believed Evelyn and I could fix things. Maybe Evelyn thought so too. I lacked the hope Alison shared. Alison was right, going out there not only forced Evelyn to come after me, certainly a formidable foe, but also put her life at risk.

  “You have a point,” I grumbled. Despite my hard feelings toward Evelyn I still didn’t want to cause harm to come her way.

  “Wedding or no wedding, none of it will matter if we don’t learn more—if we don’t stop this before people die,” Gabriel said.

  “He’s right. My father’s got to think Shaman is trying to stop the virus, even if it means putting Evelyn in danger.”

  “How could you say that? Don’t you care about Evely
n?” shouted Alison.

  “I do but—”

  “Putting your life and hers at risk is wrong, Griffon!” said Michael.

  “If we don’t do this now and soon, we may miss our window,” Gabriel said, coming to my defense. “What if tonight is the night that Richard intends to unleash the virus, but nobody is out there to stop it because they are more worried about a wedding than the lives of every human in Chicago?”

  “That’s a load of crap coming from the guy responsible for what happened in the first place! Don’t you all see he’s playing us? He already admitted to being Nebula. We can’t trust him,” accused Thomas.

  “I say we can,” I shouted back. I felt my blood boil and pressure on my skull.

  When will this fighting end?

  “And yet you’ve lied to us for the past six months! You kept this huge secret and now you’re thinking about going out despite what danger it puts Evelyn and you into. You’re just as bad as he is,” shouted Alison. That stung.

  “She’s right, Griffon. We can’t really trust your judgment, can we?” Michael asked.

  My friends are turning against me.

  “That’s enough! We’re not going to turn on each other,” said Chamberlain. His angry look shamed everyone in the room.

  “You’re right. I’m sorry, Griffon,” said Alison.

  “Yeah. Me too,” Michael mumbled.

  “Why don’t we trust what we know to the authorities and let them handle it. Maybe they will be able to stop this if we let them know what’s going on,” offered Alison.

  “The authorities already know about the virus. But in their minds Shaman is the one responsible. They aren’t going to listen to anyone except Alexandra. Nothing will change that. Knowing the truth ought to convict us to act,” I said.

  “I tag along with you then tonight,” said Thomas. There was no arguing in his tone of voice. Thomas would be unavoidable. I nodded in acceptance.